Although the consultancy is French in origin and derives most of
its revenue from its business dealings in Europe, it has made a
happy home across the Channel; the United Kingdom is now the IT
specialist's most important market, pulling in 43 per cent of
annual revenue. Steria provides end-to-end services to
clients like El Corte Ingles, Tesco, BT, Boots, Royal Mail and the
French Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industry, developing
and then operating their information systems from beginning to
end. The firm offers its services to a broad clientele
involved in financial services, manufacturing, retail, transport,
telecommunications and the media, health care, the public sector
and utilities, through its 19,000 staff in 16 countries across
Europe, North Africa, India and Asia Pacific.

From national treasure to European
powerhouse

Throughout the 1970s, Steria was the darling of the French
technology sector with an ambitious desire for expansion.
Opening branches all over the country, reporting steady growth and
buying out as many companies as it could manage, the firm was
reporting a growth rate of 80 per cent year on year by 1976, and
was already employing 550 people across France. By 1990, it
had moved into the German, Swiss, Spanish and Belgian markets, and
could boast work on some of the most prestigious international
projectsâ€"including the computer automation project of Central
Bank of Saudi Arabia in 1986 and the creation of a driverless train
for Paris' RER A line two years later.

Despite that proud history, it wasn't until 1998 that the
consultancy suddenly unlocked its real potential, when the then
38-year old FranÃ§ois Enaud took over the reins as CEO.
Change wasn't long in following the youthful new leader, who
oversaw the opening of subsidiaries in the UK and Singapore, as
well as the firm's initial public offeringâ€"an event that provided
enough cash for the firm to go on something of a spending
spree. While a number of purchases were made in 2000 alone,
it was the acquisition of troubled French computer group Bull in
2001 that helped Steria become one of the top-10 IT service
companies in Europeâ€"an elite position that it maintains to this
day.

Crossing the Channel

Another major coup de force for Steria came when it struck a deal
to purchase UK outsourcing firm Xansa for Â£456 million in
2007. That move greatly expanded the firm's presence in the
UKâ€"particularly in the public and financial sectorsâ€"and in
global outsourcing markets. Included in the deal were
delivery centres in Noida, Chennai and Pune, along with Xansa's
5,000-strong Indian workforceâ€"assets that greatly improved
Steria's outsourcing capabilities and that came preloaded with
contracts to provide back-office functions for UK organisations of
the stature of Threshers, the BBC and Lloyds TSB.